JB: Yes. Your film covered the stories of half a dozen women. At film's end, what was the outcome? You showed one who was able to obtain her get and remarry. What about the others?
BS: The film actually touches on the stories of eight women, to varying degrees.
One woman still hasn't gotten a "get', but she remarried anyway and remained observant.
Four of the women obtained "gets' and remarried; three of those families are observant.
The other three women got "gets', but I don't know their current marital status.
JB: I stand corrected. So, let's recap: all but one have their "gets' - that's pretty good - and all but one [that you know about] remained observant. Do I have that right? That part's not what I would have expected. I understand that it took eight years to make this film. Why did it take so long?
BS: Of the "other three" who obtained their "gets', I don't know the religious status of two of them.
The one who got married without a "get' is less observant than she was before, and quite cynical.
Staying observant -- i.e, within the observant community -- doesn't preclude disillusionment.
JB: Granted.
BS: Why so long?
Many reasons, professional and personal. We had chronic funding issues. We followed some leads that didn't pan out. We also followed a story in real time that took a couple of years to resolve. My partner, Leta Lenik, and I had other commitments. I became a widow and remarried.
JB: I didn't know. I'm so sorry to hear that, Bev. You certainly had a lot on your plate. How has Women Unchained been received so far?
BS: Well, the New York Times sent a reporter to Chicago to cover the local premiere at Spertus in March, 2012. It's been translated into Hebrew, French and Hungarian. Lawyers across the country have gotten continuing professional education credit for attending screenings, and many, many people have learned about the importance of pre-nuptial agreements to prevent 'get' refusal. I'd say it's having an impact.
JB: I'd say. Ten days ago, I attended an event which featured the showing of Women Unchained . It was paired with a panel of speakers. Among them was Rabbi Yona Reiss, the new head of the [orthodox] Rabbinic Court of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Rabbi Reiss has a law degree from Yale, where he was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. He called it "rabbinic malpractice" for rabbis to fail to urge a pre-nup. He also stated that "even one [agunah] is too many". That's heartening news for traditional Jewish Chicagoans, no?
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